Related posts:

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 at 8:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.

For those who have not yet discovered this channel, it is a factual outlet with quality documentaries, imported and local, and news on the hour with a substantial hour long news programme daily at 8pm. It also carries a number of original local programmes appealing to specific groups – Media 7 for media followers, The Good Word for book-lovers, Back Benches for political aficionados, The Court Report for legal buffs, and Hindsight for those keen to trawl the past.
…
Is it a matter of cost? If the channel continued to be hosted by TVNZ, or possibly by Sky under the forthcoming Igloo package, the cost of programme content could be as little as $10 million to $15 million a year. The Government has said there will be no new money for broadcasting, but this relatively small sum could come from the digital dividend – up to $1 billion of windfall profits accruing to the Treasury from the sale of the redundant frequencies when we transition to digital.

Neither the Government nor TVNZ has any appreciation of, or appetite for, public broadcasting. So viewers who care, who believe that it is vital that we have a non-commercial platform to balance all the commercial channels, should speak up loudly now. Tell the Government that we cannot accept its decision to close TVNZ 7. Sign the petition at http://www.savetvnz7.co.nz . If we lose TVNZ 7, its demise will signal an abject failure of government policy. As a nation we deserve better than this.

It will be a little ironic if TVNZ 7, but for $ 10-15 million a year [above], could disappear leaving Maori Television Service the only New Zealand ‘cultural’ television funded by Government [tax payer money] – at $ 50 million a year.
Pakeha – nil mil : Maori 50

Rod Oram:
“but this is the big one: Katherine, we are talking here about a one hundred year business model and one which has screwed NZ. I’m sorry but I can’t be more blunt than that. Cast your mind back to the meat industry (for example) and the Vestey Group from the U.K who owned farms here , who owned shipping, who owned processing and they owned the Dewhurst chain of butchers shops in the U.K We made a bit of money helping them farm that and our exports looked good but very little of that stuck to the economic ribs of NZ. And if how that screwed uop the meat industry, think how it will screw the dairy industry. What Shanghai Penxian is offering is a 100 year old re run of that model. “

Katherine Ryan:
“Why then is the government doing it”

Rod Oram:
“I would argue that the government has niether the intelligence or the courage to go to the Chinese government and say: “yes we are extremely interested in your foreign investment in NZ, but let’s make it like your other investment that’s been highly productive in Taiwan (opps probably bad example), like Ireland, in other words that enables us to do something we couldn’t do ourselves. Shanghai Penxian doesn’t do that, but unfortunately this government and its economic strategy doesn’t do that. It is trying to do is push on incremental growth of existing businesses. And it
is cutting some very dangerous corners in its failure to analyse that properly. I would apply that to this to the casino issue and I would apply it time and again to the decisions it makes.

Katherine Ryan [more why, why]

Rod Oram:
“Shania Twain doesn’t have the same economic impact. It doesn’t set a precedent with a very powerfull counter party (I.e China Inc), at some time you have to draw a line . In the sand, we should have drawn it a while ago.”

Katherine Ryan:
“Why is it a Chinese bidder that has to be that line when you have someone like James Cameron buying up in the Waiarapa? Why is it now we have to draw a line in the sand?”

Rod ORam:
“First of all I want to make something incredibly clear, I’m a huge believer foreign investment but it has to be foreign investment that is good for them and good for us and this isn’t. And it’s not an anti Chinese thing. We should have drawn the line in the sand a very long time ago by approving this decision a second time the government has made it very, very much harder, particularily with applicants from the States, Germany and China who are already large investors in dairy here.”

Katherine Ryan:
“But that’s exactley the point, why now, why should this case be any different from those that have been approved?”

Rod Oram:
“There is a very important concept that applies to cases like that and I’ll draw a parralel with the RMA . If your in a water catchment and have been taking water to irrigate your farmland, and lots of other people take water and get consents. If yours is the same but if your application tips it over into over allocation, the RMA is ill equipped to deal with that. It can’t handle with our laws in NZ cumulative impact. And it is incredibly easy and just so lazy of the government to just say: “oh we have to do this because we are under pressure from China”.

Katherine Ryan:
“Why is this different. Why has this point been reach”

Rod Oram:
“This is different because unlike say, the Harvard University Endowment Fund or a German Agri business, Shanghai Penxian is an integrated marketer and producer. This throws us way back to the Vesteys of hundred years ago.”

Rod Oram:
“I would argue that the government has neither the intelligence or the courage to go to the Chinese government and say: “yes we are extremely interested in your foreign investment in NZ, but let’s make it like your other investment that’s been highly productive in…
……

or it could be that we are dominated by the property sector who think investment is all about trading property (“It’s my [chest puffing out like a bull frog] property. I’ll sell to whomever I want”), and the thinking that they are batting for themselves and the well off propertied classes (efficient allocation of resources). As the man at the Harcourts symposium in Shanghai said:

the doo gooders on the left such as DPF’s friend Moore objects to “our” together with country, so the poor of Bangladesh can flood in destroy welfare and take wages down to subsistence while the left-wing politicians still draw $133,000/ annum – (Claire Curran etc).

Auckland’s main ethnic groups 2006
European and Other 60%
Asian 17%
Pacific Peoples 13%
Maori 10%
Source: Statistics New Zealand
Auckland’s main ethnic groups 2021 (projections)
European and Other 48%
Asian 25%
Pacific Peoples 16%
Maori 11%
Note: These are based on individual
group projections so percentages will not necessarily add to 100 or relate to the
projected total population.
Source: Statistics New Zealand

432.
T he projected 330,000 new dwellings
Auckland will need by 2040, and the
possibility we could fall short of meeting this
target, together with the very real prospect
that we may become more attractive to
migrants than projected,23 reinforce the need
for the Auckland Plan to be framed in a way
that can cope with change and uncertainty.
///
This is because over the next 20
years we will have a total increase in demand
for housing of nearly 40%. Additionally, over
the next 20 years a housing supply shortage of
some 12,000 to 90,000 units is forecast based
on Auckland’s long-term supply. Over the last
three years Auckland has already fallen short
by approximately 10,000 new homes – the
equivalent of a town the size of Blenheim.24
==========
Immigration doesn’t push up house prices (according to the government), in fact “everyone benefits”.

hj, Orams comments could equally be aimed at the Tiong family that owns about 100,000 ha of NZ forestry (Ernslaw One Ltd) along with mills and other infrastructure. All the wood planted in behind Dannevirke is bound for plywood for Asia and hopefully they build a factory to process it but as far as profit and taxes? who knows.

Just as a small example of media bias, why don’t you compare the coverage of protests in Bahrain to those in Syria. See, Bahrain is a western ally, part of the Saudi-Qatar-Bahrain-Kuwait Arab League club whereas Syria is Iran’s ally. Can’t have that now, can we. Well evidently, not from the coverage, anyway.

Both AP and Reuters are owned by the same people and most media, like ours here, simply repeats not reports. But this is all just coincidental, isn’t it.

Just a tiny example for those interested, of bias in action before our eyes. See, the number of gormless fools who just simply unknowingly without even thinking fall for such bollocks as the Libya takeover without even knowing exactly the same manipulation occurred, just appalls me. Libya was taken over because Ghaddaffi was selling its oil in gold African dinars, which was spreading to other countries and which had to be stopped if you know anything about the monetary system. The very first act of the rebel govt before it did anything else, was guess what: setup a Libyan central bank. It’s very first act before all the fighting died down, was that. (Libya, Nth Korea, Cuba and Iran are or were the only countries who don’t have one of those). Syria is all about removing the last keystone before Iran. These “spontaneous uprisings” are just Brzezhinsky colour revolution specials – you can see the signature. I mean how come Syria changed now, at this particular moment, when Bashir has ruled it without a problem for decades?

So like I say, Bahrain is just a tiny example, but it’s quite clear, the global media isn’t following it nearly as closely as it has been Syria, for months now, is it. And if the global media really was kosher in every way, then you’d expect Bahrain to have been just as prominent for just as long, wouldn’t you. Unless of course you were just a simple follower of the trends who really does think that those poor Syrian people really are oppressed and let’s hope democracy arrives very soon indeed.

Oram is a bore. Anticipate he will go back to his former homes, Australia, USA or UK from whence he originated.
Typical so called economist – never had a real job in his life.
Had expected him on the Labour Party list last election.

So like I say, Bahrain is just a tiny example, but it’s quite clear, the global media isn’t following it nearly as closely as it has been Syria, for months now, is it.

Well LJ, you seem to miss the subtle difference that Bashar appears to be slaughtering his citizens in large numbers, whereas (notwithstanding a small number of deaths, including one last weekend) the Bahrainis are not.

it’s interesting how creationists and 9/11-denialists both rely heavy on fairy tales..

..the creationists with their humans walking with dinosaurs..and the denialists with their belief a pilot who struggled to fly/control a single-engine cessna..suddenly mastered the arts of flying v.large aircraft..and so precisely..

..and of course another commonality is the denial of scientific fact..

Libya was taken over because Ghaddaffi was selling its oil in gold African dinars, which was spreading to other countries and which had to be stopped if you know anything about the monetary system. The very first act of the rebel govt before it did anything else, was guess what: setup a Libyan central bank. It’s very first act before all the fighting died down, was that. (Libya, Nth Korea, Cuba and Iran are or were the only countries who don’t have one of those)
….
the mainstream media can’t all be in on it, do you have anything else to back up your case?

Great image for today. Painting is called ‘In The Company Of Heroes’ by Matt Hall.

“In the Company of Heroes” is a painting based on more than just Matt Hall’s masterful creativity—this moment actually happened.
In Dec. 2004, Valor Studios funded a charitable trip to bring six of the Band of Brothers veterans to Germany to meet and greet the troops of the 1st Armored Division, just back from Iraq. Buck Compton, Babe Heffron, Bill Guarnere, Don Malarkey, Earl McClung, and Shifty Powers participated.

After two days in Germany, on the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, our tour traveled to Bastogne to revisit the veterans’ old foxholes with today’s soldiers. But, on the way to Bastogne, our host, now-SGM Billy Maloney, arranged a special moment for the veterans . . . a visit to Luxembourg American Cemetery where their fallen comrades are buried.

“In the Company of Heroes” depicts this moment. Wading through countless crosses and stars of David, Bill, Babe, Don, and Earl found the spot first, the headstones of their buddies.

There, in silence, Babe remembered his best friend John Julian. Don Malarkey would break down at the cross of his friend, Skip Muck. And Bill and Earl remembered the faces of Alex Penkala and others. The veterans would later agree: this was the most poignant moment since they left the continent of war in 1945.

When they returned home, over the years, the men asked us to commemorate this moment in a painting. None pressed harder than Wild Bill and Babe (call it South Philly persistence).

So, here it is, the moment that only the veterans witnessed—but what they want all of us to see—when they stood again, in the company of heroes.

Given that Bashir ruled peacefully for decades, why would he suddenly turn on his own people?

Because they decided they want a different form of rule.

As for Russia and China claiming things aren’t so bad. Well they have significant commercial interests in Syria that provide motivation for them to want the status quo to remain.

The question is not about whether or not the protests and uprisings are preferable to the current govts, but why Syria is getting more press than Bahrain – the answer lies in the bloodshed in Syria which is not occurring in Bahrain.

You have made your world view very clear LJ. I think you are “looking for zebras”

Piece in the FT about how low shale gas prices in the US and Canada are the basis of a coming boom:

“Today, few realise that the US stands on the cusp of significant economic gains stimulated by low energy costs…this advantage gives manufacturing plants in the US a 60 per cent, 70 per cent or even 80 per cent cost advantage over those operating in China, Japan, South Korea or European countries..No country other than Canada enjoys US competitive conditions. Nor will any other country probably enjoy them in the future. Recognising this, groups such as Michelin and Shell intend to build plants in the US to take advantage of the country’s permanently lower-cost energy supplies. Steel mills are also being planned…In short, low-cost energy provided primarily by shale gas production advances will almost certainly contribute to an investment boom across the US economy….The US and Canada will be, for the foreseeable future, a low-cost energy hegemony. We are the only nations that have promoted small, efficient, low-cost energy producers.”

(Google for “The coming US boom and how shale gas will fuel it” if you wish to read the article.)

The Greens, by contrast, choose poverty for New Zealanders.

Incidentally, the basis for the piece by the Green MP who wrote a guest piece on this blog a few days ago (attempting to justify still more state control of everything, naturally) was that petrol prices are high and will only go higher. There is absolutely no reason to suppose this to be the case (or, if it is, it will be because of political decisions and not due to the unavailability of cheap fuel.) Just compare the story of natural gas, where prices in the US have plummeted in the last 5 years after two decades of steep climbs.

the mainstream media can’t all be in on it, do you have anything else to back up your case?

hj, read what I said. It’s a fact isn’t it that the coverage of Bahrain protests has been nothing compared to Syria. This is not the first time things like this have not been covered, it happens all the time, but of course if you’re not aware of it you don’t even notice it. Educate yourself, is all I can say.

And BTW, just because I observe a fact such as the lack of coverage this doesn’t mean I am also saying every single person in the entire global MSM is “in on it.” That’s your conclusion, not mine. I make a very simple observation: – that if one is not even aware that a given phenomena even exists in the first place, then one is most unlikely to be able to draw accurate conclusions as to its deeper causes, the very first time said phenomena is drawn to ones attention. So please don’t read your conclusions into my observation, if you would be so kind.

The motive for Ghaddaffi re: oil trading in gold is well known to anyone versed in the international monetary system. Like I said, the “smoking gun” is the very first act of the provisional govt, done even before the heat of battle had died down. The very first act – imagine that – amongst all the other priorities it must have had. If this fact doesn’t strike you as being extraordinarily peculiar, then you’re a remarkably ill informed and unimaginative sort of political analyst.

I didn’t think it was actually possible, but I think phool has got more mental lately. What with coming out of the closet as a Truther ( it was the Jews! ), and his batshit bizarre shrieking over and over again that everyone he disagrees with on KB was a South Canterbury Finance investor. He seems to have given up all pretense of making sense. The veneer was always pretty thin though…

wat dabney, I have been saying for some time that the impending shale gas/oil boom is going to be huge. For the first time in something like 30 years the US is going to become a net exporter of hydrocarbons. Currently a large regasification plant on the Louisiana coast is being turned into a liquification plant, due to the excess of gas.

In my opinion this coming boom is going to be very bad for Australia, as they are currently building LNG plants at a never seen before pace – it will be ok for the traditional gas fields, but the new Coal Seam Gas to LNG projects, which have a very high operational cost, I expect to be in a great deal of trouble. With $50B of investment in this sector in QLD someone is going to take a serious haircut, when the budgets and delivery times blowout, as, guaranteed, they will.

With a large amount of their export $ reliant on LNG, when the price does fall, there will be some rather large implications for the Oz economy.

tom, also, a few months ago, a US drone plane crashed over Iran. Rather than go in and destroy it from the air (a rather simple task as I understand it), Obama politely asked Iran for it back. They said no, and he let them have it. Now Iran has said they have not only recovered data from it, they are planning to build their own.

WTF is wrong with this so-called president? He has done more to harm the U.S on his watch than any enemy abroad.

When a U.S. drone went down in eastern Iran last December, President Obama asked the Iranians if they might return it–pretty please–but they just grinned and said “no.”
Now, some five months later, they claim not only to have “recovered data” from the spy drone but are actually building a working copy of it. To bolster their claims, they’ve provided intelligence they say they gathered from the drone’s on-board computer, and the chief of the aerospace division of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has mockingly reported: “There is almost no part hidden to us in this aircraft.” Moreover, he claims they’ve even been able to recover “part of the data that had been erased.”

When the drone went down, numerous military men and politicians who had experience with the Iranians warned Obama to destroy the drone immediately. And when Obama chose instead to take the weak path duly described by Mitt Romney’s campaign as “Mother, may I?” foreign policy, former Vice President Dick Cheney’s criticism proved prophetic:

The right response would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it. You can do that from the air and, in effect, make it impossible for them to benefit from having captured that drone, but [Obama] asked nicely for them to return it, and they aren’t going to.

So here we are, the world’s lone super power, albeit it barely, and Iran is rubbing our face in the mud by telling the world everything it has ever wanted to know about U.S. spy drones. And whether Iran’s even telling the truth or not is beside the point. For they have succeeded in proving not only that Obama is a paper tiger but that he’s a toilet paper tiger, which is the weakest tiger of all.

Now Iran has said they have not only recovered data from it, they are planning to build their own.

The Iranians, as has often been the case with ME regimes, talk a good game on weapons, military prowess and so forth, but when it comes time for action they’ve folded against Western forces. Look at all the garbage that was spoken about the Iraqi army just before Desert Storm, all of it based on an eight year conflict with Iran that had degenerated into little more than a WWI trench warfare stalemate. It takes a hell of a lot of engineering (not necessarily scientific) knowledge to untangle the processes by which something like a stealth drone is built, so even if they have figured out the materials science, the claim that they could build replicas is a thin one given their other industrial and scientific capabilities.

I think the headline is a better description of what this is all about – pure mockery of Obama. Propaganda in other words, like the nonsense the North Koreans produced the other day about being able to reducing “parts” of Seoul to ashes by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style”. I wonder if the word “peculiar” was the correct translation, given the mirthful meaning it can have here in the West. What a clown, and the Iranian leadership is almost as bad.

But as the final lines point out, the Iranians have succeeded in rubbing Obama’s face in the dirt. To be fair, he’s merely the latest in a string of US presidents, going back to Carter, who’ve been made to look like naifs by the Iranians. It’s richer in Obama’s case because he and his minions made such a big deal about his unique abilities to resolve the situation in the first place. Such hubris is always more deserving of mockery.

Fletch, I reckon that Obama is more interested in sucking the carrots of male foreign leaders (Chavez, Castro, Mugabe, Ahmadinejad, Medvedev, King Fahd, Sarkozy) rather than asserting the US military/economic super-power status on its adversaries. There shouldn’t be surprise here, since it is alleged that Obama was a member of a homo-sexual club in the 1980s.

Cullen is suggesting some capital from the shares sold in the power co’s and AirNZ. I note he didn’t suggest they generate there own capital through a mixed ownership model for Kiwbank – 49% of Kiwibank could raise a bit of cash

Kiwibank should float 49% of its shares if it thinks it is so good.
Let New Zealanders decide. Personally I would not touch it, but would prefer to invest in the Power company sales, for which I am awaiting sorting out my pension money, currently with term deposits with the banks.
Looks as though the Postal side of NZ Post will have to be sold, to say DHL.

was directed to a blog .. imperatorfishy .. regarding a post he had about Anzac Day, well it started out that way, then he wanked on about how the people who fought the wars did it for some sort of utopia (read left-wing Government),
Posted a comment calling him a disgrace but typical of the left and he deleted my opinion .. good on ya fishy

Actually Kiwibank is doing ok and it, in act, bolstering the NZ Post Group results. It needs some serious capital if it is going to evolve into a true full service bank.

Which is not to say govt should simply pump the cash in – from mixed ownership share sales of power co’s, or from elsewhere. It looks a little self-serving to put the hand out for capital and not at least raise the possibility of a mixed ownership model for the bank. Surely that is the best way for the bank to raise capital, remain viable and not create potential market distortion through govt capital injection.

“…On April 17, 2012, as millions of Americans were filing their income tax returns – the highly-respected Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released its latest study of world military spending.

In case Americans were wondering where most of their tax money — and the tax money of other nations — went in the previous year –

– the answer from SIPRI was clear: – to war and preparations for war.

World military spending reached a record $1,738 billion in 2011 — an increase of $138 billion over the previous year.

Did anyone catch the hilarious John Ansell on Close Up last night? He claims that the National Party is conspiring with the Maori Party to foist an animist, communist and racist constitution on New Zealand.

Do a little more reading, Phil
Jesus’ relationship with Mary Magdalene kind of allays your theory He was gay
Don’t believe everything you read on AlterNet
Nice however to see you ease up on your dottiness as you criticise John-boy for smilies.

Well. i thought i had been banned yesterday after i had a temporary lapse of composure but i have done my
sums and find i am still 10 demerits short of a wipeout.

We had a wonderful Anzac Day at St Heliers in Auckland this morning.
First year my Dad was not marching. He passed away last year.

Parade started at 10.00 am
At 9.58 the RSM, calls out, (in a real RSM parade ground voice)
“Company. Company, fall in. In ranks of three. Stand at ease.”
All the vets ( now about, say 40 odd) some in wheelchairs, some with canes/zimmer walkers, form up behind the flag bearer.

!0.am “Company, advance,” The bag piper started, the leading cop car turned on its flashing lights, and the column moved off.
Including all the cubs, scouts and guides following up.

The biggest crowd that i have ever seen all clapped as they passed. (very emotional)

Too many people to fit in the hall so the ceremony was held outside.
Speeches, pipers lament and last post on bugle as flags lowered.
Readings by a Scout and a Guide, and Hymn, Abide with me.

Then the whole crowd sang the National Anthem of Australia and then the National Anthem of New Zealand (in both Maori and English.)
A lady (Desley Simpson) gave a wonderful address recounting the Anzac landing in 1915.

One of the new RNZAF helicopters flew over at 500 ft. right on cue.
Plenty of people in the crowd wearing their Dads and Grandads medals.

In a recent address in Washington honouring our ANZAC relationship, New Zealand’s Ambassador Mike Moore stated: “We are all just a few generations away from a farm and a boat. We are nations of immigrants. We were all boat people at some time or another, and no one came to NZ, Australia or America without a memory. So, we feel a common heritage and trace our history back to the Magna Carta, the Chartists, the Bill of Rights, the British Glorious Revolution, and your own revolution.

“We should occasionally celebrate our success, the great ideas of freedom, representative democracy, freedom of religion, freedom from religion, the rule of law, property rights, the genius of the limited liability company, bankruptcy law, labour rights, women’s rights, the virtues of social mobility…

“We ought not to lose our nerve now when we know that more wealth has been created over the past 60 years than the rest of human history put together. Millions have been lifted out of extreme poverty, and the more open the society the better the outcome. The darkest places on the planet, where people are treated the worst, are the closed economies and societies.

“People, when given the choice, choose freedom in the polling place and the market space. Even after the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression, we are coming back. Those who predicted the end of democratic capitalism and the exhaustion of social democracy will be disappointed. The trading system did hold. Because we learn from history, we adjust.”

The Ambassador ended his speech, which we are publishing as this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentary, by saying “let’s concentrate on the future, because the past isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” You can read the full speech here>>>

Mike Moore’s stirring optimism serves as a reminder of the phenomenal achievements of mankind. In 1820, 85 per cent of the world’s population lived in poverty; today it is less than 20 per cent. Calorie intake in the Third World has risen by 30 percent over the last 50 years. Nine out of ten of the world’s population can now expect to live beyond 60 – more than twice the average of only 100 years ago. And through scientific and industrial development, one hour of work today delivers more than 25 times the value that it did in 1850.

The reality is that the world is a far better place today than it was 50 years ago or even a few years ago – and it will be better still in the years to come. The technological and internet innovations that we are currently experiencing are only the starting point of a revolution that is now underway and is transforming our lives on a daily basis.

In 2010 Statistics NZ published a Time Use survey that showed how an ‘average’ New Zealander aged 12 and older spent an ‘average’ day: they slept 8.5 hours, spent 2.1 hours watching television, 2.7 hours involved in other leisure and sports activities, worked for 2.6 hours, and spent 2 hours doing household activities. The remaining 6.1 hours were spent on a variety of other activities, including eating and drinking, attending school, and shopping!

As well as leading lives of less hardship, New Zealanders in general tend to be reasonably well satisfied. The Ministry of Social Development’s 2010 Social Report indicated that 86 percent of New Zealanders aged 15 and above were satisfied or very satisfied with life overall. Predictably, those who were unemployed, living in rented homes, had no qualifications and lower incomes, had lower levels of overall life satisfaction than those who were employed, owned their own homes, had qualifications and higher incomes. Family also plays a big part in how people feel about life, with people living in one-parent families the least likely to be satisfied with life overall, followed by those not living in a family. The rates for couples, with and without children were the highest.

Life satisfaction is one of 11 indicators used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure country well being. With its objective of promoting policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world, the OECD has compiled information on the wellbeing of member countries into an interactive website format, which enables countries to compare how they are doing – see here>>>

In terms of the Environment indicator of national wellbeing, when compared with all other OECD countries, New Zealand ranked 2nd out of 34. This is our highest score on wellbeing factors, with only Sweden rating higher.

Home ownership provides families with stability, shelter, and economic security, and is regarded as a significant contributor to well-being. On the Housing criteria, New Zealand ranked 3rd behind Canada and Australia. We also ranked 3rd on Community, a measure that looks at the strength of our social and community networks.

When it comes to Health, New Zealand ranked 4th in the OECD, with 90 percent of New Zealanders reporting that they were in good health – the highest rate in the OECD and much higher than the average of 69 percent. We also ranked 4th on Governance, indicating that in general the public have a high degree of confidence in New Zealand’s government institutions and public administration.

Having access to work is, of course, an important indicator of wellbeing, and, with an unemployment rate that is far below the OECD average, New Zealand’s ranking on Jobs was 5th.

A country’s crime rate obviously affects wellbeing, and on the Safety indicator, New Zealand ranked 7th in the OECD.

The on-going decline in manual jobs world wide has led to a greater demand for skilled workers, and on the crucial Education indicator, New Zealand ranked 11th.

When it comes to Life satisfaction, we ranked 12th with researchers concluding that New Zealand is one of the happiest countries in the OECD! However, we don’t do so well when it comes to Work-life balance, with a ranking of 24th out of the OECD’s 34 countries.

The final OECD indicator of wellbeing is Income. This is our worst performing measure, with New Zealand ranking in the bottom ten OECD countries at 25th place. The figures are sobering. In New Zealand, the average household net-adjusted disposable income is US$18,996 a year, lower than the OECD average of US$22,284. Our average household wealth is estimated at US$16,131, less than a half of the OECD average of US$36,808.

In considering such a snapshot of how New Zealand compares to other western nations, the stand-out issue is just how financially poor we are. While we can all acknowledge that none of this is simple, our low comparative incomes help to explain why so many of our families and friends are seeking better opportunities abroad.

It also helps us to better appreciate that a key priority of government should be raising New Zealand’s incomes. That of course, means improving the country’s productivity. The best way to do that is to remove the barriers to progress – the excessive regulations faced in every walk of life, the needless red tape that all too often chokes the entrepreneurial spirit, and the unnecessary compliance costs that cripple enterprise and destroy wealth creation.

It should be easy for people to harness their talent and innovative skills and start a small business in New Zealand – with the ambition of growing it into a big business and exporting added value products around the world. Government should also be playing its part, by doing all that it can to encourage established businesses to expand their markets across the globe. Removing impediments like the Emissions Trading Scheme – that costs so much and destroys international competitiveness for no good reason – is crucial.

While New Zealanders are hard working, it is clear that a major problem we face is that many Kiwi jobs do not pay well. The tourist industry, hospitality, retail, manufacturing, agriculture – in fact most of the areas of high employment that provide a majority of the country’s jobs do so at the lower end of the wage scale, rather than the high end. In fact, those who say our future is in tourism, for example, are really saying that our future is as low income earners. Surely we should aspire to better than that!

So what sort of jobs would provide the higher incomes New Zealand needs? Some that spring to mind are businesses in the IT industry, in the health, and education sectors, in engineering, high value manufacturing, mining, scientific research and development, banking and finance, and the professions. The government is, of course, already involved in some of these areas – up-scaling our broadband network, encouraging an expansion of the mining industry, discussing greater financial deregulation, and proactively pursuing greater trade opportunities through free trade deals and closer economic associations with our trading partners.

While New Zealand clearly has a long way to go to become competitive with other countries on wage rates, there is no doubt that these initiatives are heading in the right direction. The problem is, however, that is not what political opponents are saying.

The reality is that radical groups like socialists and environmentalists make political mileage out of pessimism. They denounce progress and prosperity, claiming that wealth is evil and that development leads to catastrophe. It becomes a real problem when their scaremongering is adopted by Parliamentary parties to influence the wider public, causing fear and uncertainty.

But their game is politics and we must not let detractors take away our optimism and hope for a brighter future for New Zealand. That is not to say that the future is without risk; all progress involves a certain amount of risk that society in general is prepared to take – if the benefits are great enough.

The examples are all around us. We accept the risk of electrocution because the benefits of electricity are so enormous. We accept the risk of radiation because x-rays can be life-saving. We accept the risk of injury because of the massive benefits cars bring to our daily lives. We accept the risk of a plane crash because it is outweighed by the benefits of air travel. We accept the risk of drowning because of the huge benefits water-based activities provide.

And so it should be with public policy – if, as a society, we want the benefits that high living standards would bring to all New Zealanders, then we must be prepared to look beyond the political scaremongering to the benefits that progress will deliver.

I will leave the last word to Mike Moore who, when talking about progress, said how important it is not to lose our momentum or lower our ambitions: “This will require courage, stamina and vision. Boldness is our friend. The future is to be faced, not feared.”

How good it was to see our PM attend a dawn service today. Key understands that getting up early is the least he can do as the leader of the nation.

Once again Key shows himself to be far classier than the thing who was our PM before Key, she is the one who could not be bothered getting up early for Anzac day, she is the one who said she “did not do mornings”, she is the thing who showed no respect at all for our returned servicemen and fallen soldiers.

Those speaking will be:Professor Sean Davison (just completed his home detention for assisting the death of his mother)Hon. Maryan Street (Labour MP based in Nelson and author of a new private member’s bill that would allow for some aspects of assisted suicide)Professor Grant Gillett of the University of Otago’s Centre for Bioethics and a leading authority on end-of-life issuesJohn Kleinsman, Director of the Wellington-based Nathaniel Centre, the NZ Catholic Bioethics Centre.

Yes pete, debates like this need to be had. Not for the debate itself mind you. More for the record so that once euthanasia is institutionalised in our society, lawyers will have evidence to cite of ‘public debate’ while defending claims that granny was knocked off for her millions.

No, too much oil is not the reason, but too much cheap gas. See my post earlier at 12.11, with the huge amounts of shale gas being discovered and monetised across the world, the coal seam gas to LNG projects, such as the COP & Origin one at Gladstone, will not be profitable.

Gas is the future, there are massive fields being discovered on a monthly basis at the moment.

mister nui – agree. There’s still plenty of work to be done to extract, transport and sell shale gas… but it looks very promising for countries that have identified reserves (eg UK, Canada, USA, Mexico, South Africa and other). Access to energy drives the lifting of standards of living, it supports advances in medicine, quality of life, drives innovation and it builds futures. The more energy we have the better. Its a shame the Greens oppose anything that liberates energy.

KK you should see the gas they burn around here. Both inland and out to sea. you can always tell when they are producing oil, the production ship out to sea looks like a great bonfire and it’s at least 50ks away. Peak oil, I don’t think so. Oil is not a fading resource, why is the price been so stable for the last few years 100- 120 barrel, there is heaps of the stuff.

C4M, there’s no such thing as off-topic in a GD thread, so I can tell you that my earliest experience with cow shit was at tender age 10, sitting on an automated, electofied swing fence that ‘encouraged’ the girls into the milking shed… when said fence moved suddenly and I was delivered, face first into the fresheness that was a large pile of Mrs Cows’ first movements of the day. I can still taste that experience… it was, and remains grounding for a city slicker!

Here is a nice hymn for our christian readers/commentators here. Although I’ve sang it vocally many times, I’ve only played this hymn twice in a church brass band in my younger years (Euphonium-E).

Title : And Can it be that i Should Gain (composed by Charles Wesley ~ year 1760)

First Verse :And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior’s blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

….you can always tell when they are producing oil, the production ship out to sea looks like a great bonfire and it’s at least 50ks away……

Actually cows, it is the opposite. When the gas is being flared they are most likely not producing, or producing at a constrained flow rate, especially on offshore wells, as they use the gas for artificial lift of the oil. Usually if the gas is being flared, it means they have a problem with the gas lift/re-injection compressors and therefore cannot dispose of the gas, by way of re-injection or using it for artificial lift, hence they have to light the big candle.

But, you’re dead right, we have shit loads of oil and gas left and we’re finding loads more every day. We need to, as I earn a bunch of money from oil production that keeps me in the lifestyle I have become accustomed!

NZ King Salmon operates seven salmon farms in the Marlborough Sounds, producing almost 9000 tonnes of salmon a year and employing 450 staff, mainly in Nelson.

“We’re doing everything that Government and business and quasi-government organisations are asking, in terms of taking what was a commodity product, branding it, following it all the way through to export markets,” Rosewarne said from Los Angeles.

“Having done all of that, if there’s no possibility of growth, and there’s no possibility of any return for doing that, it does put a serious question mark over the strategy, that all of us, business and Government, are pursuing.”

The company spent more than $6 million on its 2600-page EPA application, commissioning 40 experts to assess the impact of its proposal.

A report in the application from Auckland-based Market Economics says the expansion would support another 1600 jobs in the Nelson-Marlborough region, mainly in Marlborough, assuming a processing plant would be established in Picton.

Last week Marlborough District Council submitted that the entire NZ King Salmon application should be rejected. The submission said there had been a lack of consultation and there was no “certain economic benefit to Marlborough” from the proposal
Sustain Our Sounds, which is trying to derail the NZ King Salmon expansion, has said the claim is misleading because the Picton water supply could not sustain a new processing factory

About 34 per cent, or $910 million, of Kiwis’ online purchases are thought to have been made on overseas websites last year.
And that doesn’t include online downloading.

The Customs Service is training postal staff to screen incoming international mail for items liable for GST and duties, saying the move will free up its officers to spend more time detecting contraband.